NGC 3226/3227 - Arp 94
This beautiful interacting pair of galaxies can be found in the constellation Leo, more precisely in the neck region of the creature at a distance of
about 48 million light years. Both galaxies were found by F.W. Herschel in 1784, so he recognized this particular "double nebula".
NGC 3226 is the smaller of the two. It is an elliptical dwarf galaxy of type E2 with a diameter of about 40,000 light years, an apparent magnitude
of 12.3mag and a size of 3.2'x2.8' (arcminutes). It has an active galactic nucleus (AGN), but hardly any molecular gas, which would be necessary for
further star formation in the galaxy.
NGC 3227, on the other hand, is an SBa-type barred spiral with an apparent magnitude of 10.4mag and an extent of 5.4'x3.6'. The true diameter
of the galaxy is about 60,000 light-years. It also has an active galactic nucleus that emits variable X-rays and is home to a dust torus with a temperature
of 1,600 Kelvin. The supermassive black hole (SMBH) directly in the center has a mass of 14 +-8 million solar masses.
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Both galaxies appear quite bright in my 20" f/3.2 telescope - NGC 3226 is roundish and NGC 3227 oval with an elongation of 2-3:1. The brightness of
both increases strongly towards the center, in NGC 3227 the bar can be seen as an elongated brightening in the galaxy body. Otherwise there are
hardly any details to see.
Because of the shape I always call this group "cosmic exclamation mark".
